Santa Fe County Commissioners today will consider a proposal similar to the one adopted in Bernalillo County, which would allow voters to have their say on decriminalizing marijuana. Bernalillo County Commissioners Monday voted 3-2 on a proposal that would place the marijuana question on the November ballot. The results of the ballot wouldn't be binding or change any policy, merely a reflection of public opinion. Santa Fe County’s proposed resolution seeks to determine if voters support efforts to decriminalize possession of one ounce of marijuana. City Councilors in Santa Fe voted last month to decriminalize pot, making the city the first in the state to make possession of small amounts a civil infraction. Previously, the crime was a criminal misdemeanor. Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry last month vetoed a measure that would have allowed voters to decide whether to decriminalize marijuana possession in the state's largest city.
Meantime, Berry and Albuquerque’s police chief are in Las Vegas, Nevada, to study how that city reformed following a series of police shootings. The Albuquerque Journal reports that Berry and Police Chief Gorden Eden are attending sessions on how Las Vegas police changed its use of force policies. Also attending are members of the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce's Albuquerque Police Department Reform Task Force and ACLU representatives. Unlike the Albuquerque Police Department, the Las Vegas Metro Police Department was not investigated by the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division. The DOJ and Albuquerque officials are finalizing a plan to reform the city's police department following a harsh report earlier this year.
Governor Susana Martinez’s fund-raising advantage over Democratic challenger Gary King remains intact after Monday’s campaign finance report deadline. The reports covering the last two months show Republican Martinez collecting 962-thousand dollars, with cash on-hand at three-point-eight million dollars. King, New Mexico’s Attorney General, raised about 379-thousand dollars in July and August, with cash on-hand at nearly 158-thousand. Martinez out-spent King for the period, one-point-four million to 337-grand.
The San Juan County Sheriff's office had to accept a plea bargain in a drunk driving case for a very unusual reason. KSFR's Dave Marash has the story. *****;49*****
TEXT: When it comes to policing, one's effective, 2 can be a problem. Documents obtained by the Farmington Daily Times suggest that a civilian who attended ride-alongs with San Juan County Sheriff's Office deputies may have compromised cases. A March 12 sheriff's office memo says as Deputy Adam Rogers arrested a man suspected of drunken driving, Tommy Bolack, the civilian, searched the man's car. When the case came to court, prosecutors accepted a plea agreement to keep Bolack from testifying in the case. Sheriff Ken Christesen says Bolack is not a reserve officer because he could not pass the sheriff's office agility test. He says Bolack carries a Taser but not a gun. For KSFR News, I'm Dave Marash.
The National Institutes of Health has awarded the University of New Mexico more than eight- million dollars over the next five years for research into fetal alcohol disorders. The NIH says the New Mexico Alcohol Research Center at UNM's Health Sciences Center is one of 18 alcohol research centers in the U.S., and the only one targeting fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. Research shows that alcohol consumption during pregnancy increases the risk of life-long consequences for a child, including problems with memory, intellectual ability, attention, executive function, language expression, social perception and abstract thinking. UNM says it's working to better understand how prenatal alcohol exposure damages the brain and to develop better ways to diagnose and treat fetal alcohol-related issues in children.
Acting U.S. Surgeon General Boris Lushniak is in New Mexico today to talk about ways schools and parents can work together to prevent skin cancer. Lushniak and New Mexico Health Secretary Retta Ward will visit an Albuquerque elementary school, where they will meeting with students, parents and school staff. Even though most skin cancers can be prevented, federal health officials say skin cancer rates are increasing across the country. The average annual cost of treating skin cancers now tops eight-billion. Officials say New Mexico has one of the highest incidences and mortality rates of melanoma among non-Hispanic white individuals. Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer.
Santa Fe Weather: Partly sunny today with the high near 80 and a chance for showers and thunderstorms, mainly after noon. Tonight: Mostly cloudy with scattered showers and thunderstorms. Tomorrow: Mostly sunny with the high near 79. There’s a 30-percent chance for showers and thunderstorms today and tonight, it drops to ten-percent tomorrow.